11/10/10

Obscure Grooves #12: Animal Music

Aera was a German progressive rock band that lasted from around 1975 - 1982. They specialized in the drugged out instrumental stuff that stoners loved back in the day. This sort of heavy duty prog is not for everyone - if you're looking for something melodic and catchy, you may want to go listen to Elton John or something.This will be torture for you.

Question: Have you ever met a female that enjoyed prog rock? I'm not being facetious - I've never honestly met one (other than the kind that pretends to for the sake of her rock snob boyfriend). It's like The Three Stooges and Monty Python - you simply have to have a Y chromosome to appreciate it.
Nosferatu - "Willie the Fox"

Everyone's heard "I'd Love to Change the World" and seen guitar genius Alvin Lee in Woodstock footage, but yet they never really got much name recognition in the States. Okay, it may not be prog, but this 1971 song is pure classic rock gold.

This song is significant not because it was covered by both Cheap Trick and Tim Curry (!), but because it marks the beginning of Jeff Lynne's time with the Move, a band that would soon metamorphosize into the Electric Light Orchestra. Also, it's a damn good song.

10 comments:

I can recall 2 females that like prog. One was a bass player that really got my attention when I was adjusting her knobs (on her amp!) by playing Here Come the Bastards by Primus. She could slap with the best of them. The other is our lead singer, who loves Rush.

I believe prog rock is the highest form of rock music, but it sure has killed my love life over the years. Nothing will send a girl running from a room quicker than if you put on "Brain Salad Surgery" by Emerson Lake & Palmer on your stereo. My wife is a jazz fan, so to her Prog is like a noisy cousin of jazz.

I have tried to turn my own wife onto some prog, and she likes the Peter Gabriel vocal from Robert Fripp's "Exposure" solo album and some tracks from "In The Court of the Crimson King." If you are going with a pretty broad definition of prog, my wife loves Brian Eno's album "Here Come the Warm Jets" and some tracks from "Before and After Science."

My wife is pretty accommodating, and we actually had some King Crimson music on at our wedding.

I think including Electric Light Orchestra and Aera under the general heading of prog rock is really casting a large net. I always liked bands like the Moody Blues, Yes, Procol Harum, ELP, and King Crimson. These types of bands are for me what defines prog rock. But I like ELO as well. and I like Elton John, too. That Aera piece sounded terrible however so not all prog rock is of the same standard.

Question: Have you ever met a female that enjoyed prog rock?Answer: No. In fact, I'm surprised at some of the other responses of guys who DO know women who like prog, even if it's just a little. In my experience, even music that is only slightly progressive, such as Uriah Heep, is enough to turn them off.

WELL, I enjoy prog rock but I guess I have to be in the mood to listen to it. I'm in Genesis, (Peter Gabriel-era, mostly. Damn, he was fine in the seventies. MEOW.) Rush, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes, and ELP but I haven't ventured much farther than that. :/Actually, I have been wondering if Soft Machine and Gong are any good.

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